


LGF 2: You Will Be Missed

by RV (TekeoMiona)



Series: LGF'Verse [2]
Category: Tremors: The Series
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Family Death, Friendship, Funeral, Gen, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2014-11-30
Packaged: 2018-02-27 15:05:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2697353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TekeoMiona/pseuds/RV
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tragedy has befallen the Norvel household, making Larry feel miserable and depressed. So Jodi takes it upon herself to help him through this difficult time, reliving a painful time for herself and puling them closer together in the process.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Letter

**Author's Note:**

> Rumpy was adamant our next story have something to do with Jodi and Larry. Sadness follows. Luckily, only for two chapters.
> 
> *RV makes no claim to own Tremors or its characters. They are the property of S.S. Wilson and Stampede Entertainment.*

It was pleasantly quiet this morning in Jodi Chang's store as she began to set up for today's prospective customers. She propped open the door to air out the humid market, letting in some fresh air. As the store owner started to straighten some things up, she got the nagging feeling something was missing. She scanned the small building when she realize what she was looking for.

As Jodi walked outside, she instinctively looked to the sky. There she saw a large shape circling high above. She soon found herself at Larry's trailer, and she knocked loudly. "Larry, you in there? You are supposed to be helping me with the store."

The faint sound of a movie playing could be heard through the door but there was no answer from the sci-fi fan.

Jodi's brow furrowed as she rapped on the metal door again. "Larry Norvel! If you don't open the door, I'll just have to let myself in," she threatened, pulling a ring of keys out of her pocket.

Still nothing.

Jodi mumbled to herself, unlocking the door. She pushed it open, honestly confused by what was going on. Larry wasn't exactly one to be anti-social. That was Burt's specialty.

The inside of the trailer was dark, not that that was a surprise. Larry always insisted that you couldn't truly enjoy a movie unless it was in the dark, otherwise it took away from the effect. 'Why else do you think they turn the lights off in movie theaters? It's not just to keep the glare off you know.'

What * _was_ * a little surprising was Larry himself. He was sitting on his couch, curled up in a blanket and watching his favorite sci-fi movie, Jurassic Park. But he barely seemed to be registering what was happening on the film, his eyes looking red and unfocused. Next to the couch beside him was an opened envelope.

Jodi frowned worriedly. "Larry, you okay?" she asked, stepping towards him.

Larry looked up at her in slight surprise, as if just realizing she was there. He turned his face away quickly and shrunk into his blanket a bit more, his whole demeanor saying he just wanted to be left alone.

Jodi was surprised when she found she was overcome with worry. She had never seen Larry this visibly upset, even when his own life was threatened. She moved a little closer, sitting on the edge of the couch. "Are you okay? What's the matter?" she asked.

Larry just pulled the blanket closer to him, causing the envelope to fall to the ground.

Jodi leaned down, picking up the envelope. She looked over the outside. It was addressed to Lawrence R. Norvel- she found herself wondering what his middle name was- at his P.O. Box in Bixby, from Darwin J. Norvel from an address in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The store owner looked to Larry, then took out the letter inside.

_Dear Lawrence,_

_I know how excited you were about having your mother and I come visit you in your new home for our anniversary this year. But I'm afraid that won't be happening now. I'm sorry for writing this in a letter but I didn't think I could find the strength to say it out loud over the phone. We finally went to see a doctor about your mother's headaches. Turns out she had a brain tumor. A big one. Apparently it's been growing for years but we never noticed it. If it had been found sooner then perhaps they may have been able to remove it without consequence. But it was too late. Shortly after we found out your mother suffered a terrific seizure and was rushed to the emergency room. She lived just long enough for me to say goodbye but I don't think she recognized who I was. I wanted to call you but there wasn't any time, it all happened too quickly and I didn't want you to feel guilty for arriving too late. I made sure to tell her you loved her and that we would miss her. She passed peacefully and painlessly at least. I am thankful for that. I know this will be hard for you, the two of you were so close. But know that she is in a better place now, watching over us, and you as you go on your many adventures you're always telling us about. She always loved those stories. Now she can see them as you do. I know that will make her happy._

_~Love,  
Dad._

_P.S.-the funeral will be this weekend on Sunday at 3:00. I hope you can make it._

"Oh, Larry," Jodi gasped softly. "I am so sorry," she almost whispered. She wiped her own eyes, surprised to find that she herself was crying at her own grief over her own loss. She was thinking of her uncle, but quickly whisked away the tears- this wasn't about her.

Larry was silent, although his own eyes were flooding with fresh tears. He never was one to handle deaths well but this was his mother. They'd been closer than any mother and son and her sudden death was like a hole had just been punched through his chest.

Jodi instinctively reached out and took his hand, not really knowing what to say at the moment. Comforting others had never really been one of her strong suits. In fact, she always went to her sister when a tragedy had befallen the family. Jodi tried to think of something she might have said.

"I... I can only imagine how this would feel," she said. She just wished he would say something.

He didn't, although his hand tightened around hers as if it were a lifeline.

Jodi peered around the small room, finding a box of tissues on a table and handing them to him. "I'll be right here if you want to talk," she offered him with a small smile.

For a long moment, Larry didn't answer. But finally he moved, sitting up and leaning against Jodi's shoulder. He still didn't speak though, too choked up to be able to get any words out.

Jodi gently fixed his messy hair, frowning with worry. His lack of speaking actually unnerved her, surprisingly, but she tried not to show it.

"What did she look like?" the Asian woman asked tentatively, and offered him a small smile.

Larry gestured to a picture hanging on the wall behind them. In it was a man and women standing together in front of a large house. The man was about 6 foot, with light brown hair and brown eyes. The woman was about the same height as Larry, and had black hair and kind blue eyes. She was wearing beautiful blue dress that when just below her knees and had one hand on her stomach.

"That was her favorite dress," Larry said quietly, speaking for the first time. "Dad bought it for her the day they found out she was pregnant with me."

Jodi smiled at the picture, then back at him. "You look like her," she said. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"I was supposed to have a big sister but Mom miscarried when she was four months. She was always super protective of me because of that."

"Oh," Jodi said. "What was your mom like. Did she like science fiction like you," she teased gently, trying to lighten the mood.

Larry nodded, sniffling.

"What was her favorite movie?" she asked.

"The Day the Earth Stood Still."

"The old one or the new one?" she asked curiously, trying to keep him talking.

"Old one. She hated the new one."

"I guess that's the story of movies," Jodi joked, "People love the originals and hate the remakes." She grew more serious. "Are you going to the funeral?"

"I want to, but..." Larry looked down at his hands. "I don't know if I can."

Jodi took one of his hands again. "If you don't go, you'll always feel guilty about it. I know I do, I didn't go to my uncle's funeral," she told him.

"I know," Larry still looked uncertain.

"You don't have to go alone," Jodi said softly.

"Well, yeah, I know Dad'll be there," Larry replied tiredly, missing the offer in Jodi's words.

Jodi rolled her eyes slightly. "I meant, someone can go with you. So you're not travelling alone and stuff," she offered.

"Like who?"

"I don't know, like,  _me_ , Larry," she said, poking his chest for emphasis.

Larry straightened in surprise, "You'd do that?"

"Of course," she nodded. "You'd do it for me, right?"

"Yeah," Larry wiped his eyes with his sleeve and smiled slightly. "Thanks Jodi."

"You're welcome. It's this Saturday, right? That's three days," she said, and you could see she was already working out the details in her head.

"Sunday, actually," Larry said with a small smile. "But we'd probably have to leave by Saturday to get there in time."

"I'll have to scrape up some money for a plane ticket," she said, nodding.

Larry shook his head. "I can have Dad wire us some money, you don't have to worry."

"I couldn't take money from your dad," Jodi insisted.

"Trust me, he won't mind," Larry assured her. "He has more money than he knows what to do with."

Jodi gave him a confused, slightly surprised look.

He chuckled. "Yeah, my family's kinda sorta rich."

Jodi gaped. "Since when?"

"Um..." Larry looked up in thought. "About 1893 I believe. My great Grandpa's family struck oil. And they were really smart investors."

Jodi blinked. "Wow. I guess that explains a lot."

"Yeah."

"Do you want to come to the store so you can call you dad?" she asked gently.

He nodded, slowly untangling himself from the blanket and standing up. He might as well do  _something_  other than sit in his trailer in the dark. Besides, being the very hyper person he was, the lack of movement was making him antsy and paranoid. And he didn't like being antsy and paranoid. That was Burt's thing. And as much as Larry admired him, he didn't want to  _feel_  like him. He'd stick with the hyperactive way of life.


	2. The Funeral

Despite the amount of money the family had, the service was fairly plain and simple. There were a lot of people though. Family, friends, coworkers. It seemed that Delilah Norvel had touched a lot of people.

Larry and Jodi were at the front of the group next to Larry's father as the preacher started speaking.

Jodi stood, trying focus her attention on the man speaking. She couldn't help but feel very claustrophobic around so many people, because living in Perfection gave her little chance to be in a crowd. Plus, the few times there were a lot of people in the town it had left some negative memories.

Larry and Darwin were standing on either side of her, silently staring at the Delilah's photograph above the coffin. Neither of them were really paying attention to the man speaking, too wrapped up in their own memories.

Even the weather seemed to be suffering the loss, the sky cloudy and the wind blowing mournfully.

Jodi found her eyes drifting towards the graying sky, her thoughts flitting away from the moment. She remembered how hard she had taken her Uncle Walter's death. She had only been about 16 when it happened, and he had been almost more of a grandfather to her. She had been so distressed she had to stay home from school for nearly a week, but she had refused to go to the funeral, saying it was a waste because there was no body. She had never forgiven herself.

Larry shifted next to her, his gaze falling to the ground. He looked so depressed it was scary. Larry wasn't one to be depressed, and he knew it too. It scared him to feel so miserable; he couldn't remember feeling anything like it his whole life. Was this how people who became suicidal felt? Was * _he_ * suicidal? Or maybe he was just thinking about suicide because he was overreacting. He didn't really want to die, not at all. Or was that how all people felt? Maybe he would just end up randomly walking off a cliff or something. Or maybe lock himself away in his trailer and refuse to come out and then metal eating bugs would appear and eat his trailer and while they were eating the walls the ceiling would collapse and crush him and he would suffocate before they finished eating and then Burt and Tyler would come at the last minute with an acid to kill them while they were eating but they had to spray him too and after that all that would be left were his bones.

Okay, now he was  _really_  overreacting. Larry shook his head and buried it in his hands, trying to settle his too descriptive imagination.

Jodi hated the way this whole  _thing_ was making her relive her feelings. Hated that it was trying to provoke the tears she had finally been able to stop all those years ago. Hated that she had gone out to find Larry. Hated that she cared more about how Larry was taking this than her own feelings.

Man, she was being selfish. One more thing to hate.

Several large raindrops landed near them, warning them of a potential downpour. The drops jolted them from their thoughts and they realized the service had just ended. A few stayed to say quick, final goodbyes before leaving to get out of the rain. Before long they were the only three left. Larry and his father moved forward to stand under the tarp protecting their lost loved one from the rain.

Jodi took single step forward, enough to be out of the rain but far enough away to give the mourners space.

Larry rushed through his silent goodbye, not able to stand so close to the one thing that made his mother's death seem more permanent. He turned away quickly and walked over to Jodi, letting his father say goodbye alone. Darwin seemed less stricken than Larry did, although he knew that deep down his father was crying as much as he was. His tears just weren't showing. But Larry couldn't help the ones escaping from his eyes and streaking down his cheeks. He just couldn't believe his mother, his best friend, was gone.

Jodi grabbed her friend into a hug. She knew the pain he was feeling- to some extent- and she couldn't bear the thought of him feeling that way anymore. Not happy, goofy, excitable Larry.

Larry suddenly felt like a dam had exploded inside of him. He clung to his friend and just let go, sobbing into her shoulder. Jodi just hugged him, supporting the broken-hearted man. She didn't know what to say, but figured silence was probably best for Larry, anyway.

They stood there for some time, how long exactly was a mystery, until Larry finally ran out of tears and pulled back, wiping his face with his sleeve again.

"Thanks."

Jodi smiled softly. "That's what friends are here for," she said, taking his hand again like she had in the trailer.

Larry smiled back and hugged her again tightly. "I know. And I know this must be hard for you what with your Uncle and all..." he paused. "I'm just glad you're here," he finished quietly.

"I'm glad I'm here for you," she smiled again.

"I know," Larry pulled away again, sighed, and then looked around in slight surprise. "Guess Dad got tired of waitin' for us and headed for the car," he said with a small laugh.

"Wanna see if we can catch up to him?" Jodi offered, a little amusement in her voice.

Larry grinned and took off running. "Race ya!"

Jodi shook her head slightly, but her smile brightened. It looked like he was healing. She jogged after Larry with no intention of beating him.

He beat her by about seven feet and leaned against the car with a breathy laugh. "You're so slow, Jodster."

Jodi rolled her eyes. "If you say so, Larry," she teased.

Larry opened the back door to the car and slid over to the driver side to let Jodi in. "Sorry we took so long, Dad."

Darwin just smiled. "No need son. Doin' what you did couldn't have made your mother happier."

"What do you mean?" Larry asked, trying to figure why his mother would be happy about him sobbing his heart out.

His father just smiled again with a twinkle in his eye and started the car. Jodi looked curiously at the older man, and spent the rest of the ride trying to decode the meaning behind his words.

* * *

The house was the same as the one in the picture hanging in Larry's trailer. A white two-story Birmingham, with light blue trimming and tall windows. And the inside was filled with books, movies, souvenirs, and countless interesting knick-knacks.

Jodi looked around the warmly lit house, kind of surprised. This wasn't exactly what she had expected to find when she had been told Larry's family was rich. But, then again, this was Wisconsin and people here didn't seem to be too flashy.

Larry took in her surprise and smiled. "Yeah...we're rich but we prefer living pretty simple."

"Yep," Darwin nodded. "But we also like to travel. Go ahead, take a look around, and if you find somethin' you really like, take it. Lord knows we've so many there's probably doubles. Larry an I will go get supper ready."

Jodi looked around at the many little trinkets, but didn't find anything she could bring herself to take.

Meanwhile, Larry and his dad got started on the evening meal in the kitchen. For awhile it was quiet between them, until...

"She's cute."

"Dad!" Larry nearly dropped the plates he was carrying.

"What? I'm just agreeing with you is all."

"I never  _said_  anything!"

"Ah, but you were thinkin' it!" Darwin grinned.

Larry's mouth opened and closed like a fish, not sure what the heck had brought this up and how to respond to it.

Jodi's attention was grabbed by a picture surrounded by state snow globes. She couldn't help laughing at the family photo with a young Larry, maybe seven or eight years old.

Larry came hurrying out of the kitchen to investigate, mostly just to get away from his embarrassing father.

"Hey," he smiled, hoping to God his face wasn't bright red. "Find somethin' you like?"

Jodi turned around, shaking her head and trying to stop her giggles. "Oh, no...it was nothing," she said.

Larry cocked his head curiously and looked past her at the photo. He grinned. "Oh yeah, that."

She took a deep breath, collecting herself. "You were cute," she said sweetly.

Larry felt himself heat up again, his dad's words echoing in his head. "Y-yeah."

Jodi chuckled slightly. "Sorry," she said, seeing his blush and figuring it was because she laughed.

"What? No, it...it's fine," Larry waved the apology away. "So...you wanna see our movie collection?"

"Something tells me," she said teasingly, "You wouldn't take no for an answer."

Larry smiled. It was true, but mostly just another tactic to get away from this topic of cuteness. He led her to another room with a small flat screen TV and a large bookshelf of videos.

"Choose whatever you like," he offered. "And there's of a good selection of them that aren't sci-fi."

Jodi pulled out a movie after a few moments of consideration. "I remember seeing this when it came out," she said, holding out Toy Story.

Larry grinned. "That was my favorite as a kid."

He took it and placed it in the VCR and pressed play. His dad came in then with their food and set it on the short, round table in the middle of the room.

"Have fun kids," he said slyly before walking out. Larry was thankful the lights were off; his face had gotten even redder than he thought was possible.

Jodi looked at the man curiously as he left the room. She still couldn't quite figure out his double-meanings.

"Oh, look, it's starting!" Larry said, picking up his plate and eating quickly. He was going to kill his father for this, he swore it.

Jodi picked up her own plate, eating not as fast and they settled down to watch the movie. It was relaxing, after all the excitement. Jodi just hoped that when they got back home, the only excitement would be El Blanco.


End file.
